Plant Dreams – 2014 Global Talent Search

When I met Lilla Rogers at Printsource this Spring, she encouraged me to enter 2014 Global Talent Search. I was gonna enter it last year but I signed with an agent right before GTS began. When I saw what my MATS friends created for GTS– super fun playground journal covers, Autumn farm tote bags, etc., I felt I’ve been left out and missed all the fun!

So no second thought needed this time, I want to be in the party.

The first round we were asked to create an artwork inspired by “Little Terrarium”. I love this theme but, when I read the brief suggested using “paint”, and for “wall art” market, I screamed, “Oh No!”

I remember how I struggled to do my assignment in the week of Wall Art when I took MATS A courses. Now I went through the same fear again. I came up with a several concepts and sketches, but I didn’t feel right with them. Finally I decided forgetting about “paint” and “wall art”, just make the art I enjoy. I am developing my hand-lettering portfolio, and the brief asked us to include a word or phrase in our entries. So I went ahead to take the lettering approach.

I drew everything with pen and ink on paper, then colored it in Illustrator. I also experimented some new techniques to add more painterly textures. The result is a big improvement for my style.

Although I didn’t make the cut to the semi-finalists, I am still happy for an invaluable experience, a piece of artwork I love for my portfolio, and being part of this super talented artist group.

All the entries this year are published on Lilla Rogers Studio website. There are so many beautiful artwork that definitely worth the time to look through the entire gallery. It’s an art feast.